


How Much is a Picture Actually Worth?

by Nexas_Hart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Photographer Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27287893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexas_Hart/pseuds/Nexas_Hart
Summary: So, he's got a hobby... So what? At least it's less dangerous than fighting crime. His aunt is happy with that.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Peter Parker, Clint Barton & Sam Wilson, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Original Character(s), Peter Parker & Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Vision, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 29
Kudos: 220





	1. Hobbies

**Author's Note:**

> I want to try writing this trope. Let me know if you have any ideas, because I don't have very many.

Chapter 1: Hobbies

“Alright, Karen. Take the shot.”

There’s the classic sound of a shutter closing, despite it being completely unnecessary. After confirming the picture was saved, he just sits there, enjoying the sunset as the colors bask the skyscrapers in an orange and red light.

“Alright, Karen. Whatcha got for me?”

“I have reports of an armored car robbery three blocks from your position.”

“On it.” He flips out a web. “Show me the way.”

***

Peter slips into his bedroom and takes his suit off. Then, he plugs it into the computer, Karen immediately comes to life on the screen, small floating orb sitting in the corner indicating her activity.

“Alright, Karen. You know the drill.”

“Pictures and videos uploading.”

He gets dressed in his pajamas before sitting back down and sorting through the photos and checking the videos for any good screenshots. He looks through the photos, sorting them. Then, he looks through the video after Karen filters out anything indicating Spider-man. He manages to find a few points in the camera that could be good, then he lets Karen do the rough cleanup, before he does some manual work to take out some of the blur from the movement. Finally, he saves the finished copies to the file he’s created for his pictures.

“Hey, sweetie. Are you done?”

Peter turns around to see his aunt in the doorway. He smiles.

“Yeah, just finished saving the photos.”

“Could you come here?” she asks. “I have something you might like.”

He follows her to the living room, where a cardboard box is sitting on the coffee table. He frowns, confused.

“I know you’ve been getting into photography, and I love that you’re getting more hobbies other than your vigilante work, but you can’t use your mask for all of it. So, I thought I’d get you something to help out when you’re out of costume.”

Peter’s eyes widen as he opens up the box. Carefully, he digs through the packing paper until he pulls out a camera bag. When he unzips it, he sees a digital camera and collection of different lenses for it. He looks up, gaping.

“H-How did you-?”

“One of my friends was selling their older model. When she heard me talking about you getting into photography, she sold it to me for cheap. I know it’s a few years old, but-.”

Peter cuts her off with a hug. “Thank you, Aunt May. I love it.”

“But,” she strokes the back of his head. “I have a condition.

***

Peter’s nervous as he walks into the room after school. It’s not like he’s scared about telling everyone about his hobby, he just doesn’t have the best track record with this whole thing. The staff rep turns to look at him as he walks in.

“Hello,” she smiles. “What can I do for you?”

“I-Is this the photography club?”

“Yes, it is. I’m Ms. Walters, the staff advisor. Are you interested in joining?”

Peter nods. “I’ve started getting into it, and I had to quit two of my other clubs earlier in the year because of some stuff, but my schedule has settled down a bit and my aunt wants me to do something else.”

“Well, we’re happy to have you. It’s a little late in the year, but that’s fine. Do you have your own camera?”

“Yeah,” he pulls the camera bag around to the front. “It’s not very new, but…”

“That’s no problem,” she assures him. “It’s probably newer than the ones the school provides. Besides, it’s not like the camera is everything in photography. It also takes a good eye and steady hand. This late in the year, we’re mostly trying to help out the yearbook with their photo pages. Maybe get a few good shots for the newsletter and fulfill requests for the journalism club. A lot of candid and poses. As well as pictures of the other clubs, and anything else that you think might be fun or useful. We’re supposed to meet up again in the next couple of hours. Why don’t you go take a few photos that you think might be good to post for the yearbook? I can get the paperwork together for your guardian to sign while you’re gone. What’s your name?”

He relaxes, smile creeping onto his face. “My name is Peter Parker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said. I'd like a few ideas.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	2. The Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, people don't seem too enthusiastic about Peter joining another club. I mean, they have a pretty good reason, but still.
> 
> Well, they'll change their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments. Hope you like this short chapter.

Chapter 2: The Club

“Ah. Here you are.” Ms. Walters smiles as Peter steps back into the room. She turns back to the rest of the room, where Peter sees other students sitting down at the desks. They look up from their laptops and cameras. “This is Peter Parker. He’ll be joining us for the remainder of the year.”

“Peter Parker?” One of the guys frowns. “The one who quit Robotics club and Marching Band?”

“The one who left Liz Allen at Homecoming?” A girl comments.

“The one who claims to have a Stark internship and know Spider-man?”

“I really do have an internship,” Peter mumbles. “And I never said I knew Spider-man. I just met him a couple of times. Ned just overreacted.”

“And how do we know you won’t ditch us like you did all of the other clubs you were in?”

“Now, now,” Ms. Walters sighs. “Peter says that his schedule has settled down, and we’ll always welcome more members.” She gives a small glare at one of the guys. “And I seem to recall Michael leaving the club for a few months before coming back, so let’s be fair.”

The boy in question, who made the comment about Peter ditching, blushes in embarrassment.

“Now then,” the staff advisor claps her hands together. “Why don’t we all review the photos we’ve taken in the past week. We can see if there’s anything we can use for yearbook. Peter, I know you didn’t have as much time or warning, but did you manage to get any shots today?”

“Yeah,” he smiles, brightening up as the subject switches to photography. “I managed to get a couple. I’m not sure how good they are, but I like them.”

“Perfect,” she smiles softly. “Do you mind if we see a few?”

***

“This one’s definitely going close to the front of the yearbook.”

“It’s a perfect view.”

“How did you get this angle?”

The picture in question is an aerial shot of the school. It shows the entire building, as well as the tennis courts, and the most of the football field. Peter had noticed the view while he was swinging around a few days ago. He took a few minutes before he came back to climb up and grab the shot.

Peter scratches the back of his head, blushing a bit. “I-I’m pretty good at free running. You know, parkour and stuff like that. There’s a really good view from the top of one of the buildings.”

“It’s a good picture, Peter,” Ms. Walters tells him. “But I don’t think I can condone you climbing a building to take them.”

“It’s fine,” he frowns. “I really just had to reach the fire escape. I could walk up the rest of the way.”

The advisor still looks a little hesitant, but she doesn’t seem as reprimanding.

“Do you have some of your other pictures with you?” One of the other club members asks.

“Sorry. They’re all saved on my computer at home. This is actually one of the first times I’ve used this camera. I’ve been borrowing from a friend before this.”

“Well, bring in an SD card. I think we’d all like to see some of your other work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want anything. I'll get to requests after I finish writing my own ideas.


	3. Incognito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and his camera join the press.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comment butterflygrl. I mean, it's fairly obvious this had to happen.

Chapter 3: Incognito

As Peter sits at his desk, scrolling through an online newsfeed, he switches back to the email draft that he has in a separate tab. It’s not like he has to do this, but still. This is the best offer out there. But these articles. Well, if someone’s getting paid, it might as well be him.

He’s asked Aunt May to go over the email, just to make sure it sounds professional. She’s still a little hesitant about all of this, but she is just as amused about the entire situation.  
At the end of his pondering, he finally clicks send on the email. It’s all or nothing now.

***

“Really, Peter?”

The teen looks up, confused. He’s at the Compound, sitting down at the dining room table while he works on his homework. The rest of the Avengers are scattered around the Compound, doing their own thing. A certain Natasha Romanov is actually in the dining room with Peter, along with a couple of other members of the team sitting in the connecting living room. Currently, the superspy is standing in front of Peter, tablet in hand and eyebrow raised. She has an amused smile on her face.

“What?” He frowns at the woman.

“Benjamin Richardson?”

His stomach drops. He didn’t think he’d be found out so soon. I mean, c’mon, how would he know that the Black Widow read the local news. He thought the Avengers just focused on the international and national stuff.

“What’s going on, Romanov?” Mr. Stark calls from the couch.

“Well,” she smirks at the billionaire. “I was curious, so I decided to look up different articles that have been posted about our Little Spider here. They’re pretty few and far between. When it comes to the national news, he’s only ever mentioned in a footnote or a passing comment. However, I found something interesting on the local scene.”

“Well, yeah,” Clint mumbles from his own seat. “Spider-man’s pretty well known in New York. He’s a lot more public than the other vigilantes and he’s a lot more personable.”

“That’s the thing. He’s well known, but when I look up his articles, there isn’t much in the way of visuals. Sure, there are plenty of him doing community service, like rescuing cats and helping with groceries. Hell, our Little Spider is known for taking pictures with tourists and fans,” she tosses Clint the tablet. “But check that out.”

The picture on the screen is an impressive action shot of Spider-man swinging through the rooftops. It’s a high quality close up. Something that, normally, wouldn’t be possible without pure luck of the photographer, or-.

“Did you pose for this?” Clint squints at the image. “I hope you got a cut of the profit from the photographer.”

“Clint,” Nat sighs. “He is the photographer. Probably set up the camera with a timer or a motion sensor.”

“What?” Clint scrolls down a bit more. “But it says it’s-.”

“Benjamin Richardson,” she finishes for him. “A pretty good pseudonym, if I do say so. Anyone who doesn’t know you and isn’t looking for it would never think about it.”

“Your middle name?” Tony guesses. “And your dad’s name?”

“I kind of got the idea for the last name from when Thor came to visit that one time,” Peter admits. “And I figured I shouldn’t have my name out online if I’m going to be taking pictures of myself too much.”

“So,” Clint snorts. “You’re taking glorified selfies and selling them for money? I mean, I know people do it online, but still, this is kind of going above and beyond.”

Tony is currently looking over the article. “But could you have picked a better newspaper? I mean seriously, this ‘Daily Bugle’ is basically just slandering your good name, and from what I can see, the rest of the articles they’ve been writing are just as bad.”

“They’re one of the few ones asking specifically for Spider-man photos,” Peter explains. “And they give the most for each picture they accept.”

“Still.”

“I think it’s pretty smart,” Natasha ruffles the teen’s hair. “If someone is going to make money off of your face, you might as well get a cut.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Peter smiles up at the woman.

“Just,” Tony sighs. “If it gets too bad, let me know. I’ll hit them with a slander lawsuit faster than they can say ‘menace.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are making a fic that focuses on Peter's photography skills, you have to at least reference the Daily Bugle. It's a must, but I feel like he'd try to be a bit more anonymous about the whole thing than he usually is in the comics and shows.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	4. Mix Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter shares some of his photos with the club, but he ends up showing more than he initially wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is inspired by Bbblaney77 and his comment. Thank you for your support.

Chapter 4: Mix Up

“Wow, Peter, you have a real talent for landscapes.”

“And candid.”

Peter Parker has pretty much integrated into the photography club. It’s a lot less of a systematic extracurricular. Sure, he gets certain assignments, like taking pictures of certain clubs and events at the school, but those can be easily done in between decathlon and his “internship.”

Right now, they’ve just finished with a few nature shots. Not very many opportunities in New York City when you can’t walk to Central Park, but the pigeons, squirrels, and even the bushes and trees around the school make for good shots. One of them even got a stray cat, which was lucky.

Of course, there weren’t very many pictures to go through, so they’ve decided to look through the ones everyone has taken in their free time. Luckily, Peter brought a few of his SD cards to show off. Most of them are from his suit, but he still has a good number of photos from just walking around with his camera when he’s not suited up.

“Hey! There’s another one at the bottom of the bag!”

Peter looks over at Michael as he picks another card out of Peter’s bag. The wallcrawling teen frowns. He thought that he took all of them out already. Michael tosses the SD card over to one of the club members with an open reader. Emelia, the girl at the computer, reads the small letters written on the card.

“AC,” she frowns. She gives a shrug before plugging it in.

It takes a few moments for Peter to remember the significance of those letters. When he does, he jolts forward out of his seat, eyes wide in panic.

“Wait!”

But it’s too late. The first set of thumbnails have loaded, showing photos of Tony Stark working in his lab at the Avengers Compound.

“No way,” Emelia gapes at the shots. “Are these photoshopped?”

Everyone else converges on the computer screen as she keeps scrolling through the photos. At the beginning, it’s just stuff from working in the lab; but as it goes on, he has more and more variety.

There’s Sam, Bucky, Clint, and Wanda playing Mario Kart. Peter took that photo while he was waiting for next game. He has a short montage of when Vision accidentally mixed up the chili powder and cinnamon in a meal. Wanda ate a spoonful and spit it out in the sink before chugging down the remainder of the carton of milk in the fridge. That was also the moment when Viz was banned from cooking without close watch. There’s a selfie of Clint when he stole the camera from his bag, with Peter in the background diving towards the archer in order to get it away from him. There’re even action shots he’s taken of the Avengers working out and training together while he’s taking a break. That along with a whole bunch of other pictures that he took while hanging out with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has the entire club enraptured as they flip through the SD card.

“These can’t be photoshopped,” Michael leans over at the computer screen. “The positions are too uncommon; and the close ups, you’d never find something this quality online.”

“Wow,” one of the other club members whistles. “I thought you said you didn’t know the Avengers.”

“Well, I didn’t when Ned told everyone,” Peter blushes. “I kind of got to know them through my internship.”

“Some internship,” another member laughs.

“Yeah,” said intern rubs the back of his head. “But, could I have that card back? It actually wasn’t supposed to be in there, and I’m not sure if the people on there would want me to be showing that stuff around.”

“Oh,” Emilia’s eyes widen. “Sorry. Let me just,” she quickly ejects the SD card, and holds it out to him. “Here.”

“Thanks,” Peter accepts the card. “And could you maybe keep this a secret? People already don’t believe me about my internship. I don’t really want to know what they’d think if they heard about this.”

“Don’t worry, Peter,” Michael pats him on the shoulder. “We can keep a secret.”

The rest of the people in the room nod in agreement. As Peter looks into all of their eyes, he can see the sincerity.

“Thanks, guys,” he sighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that the people in the photography club are nice enough to keep a secret.
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter, and if you have any ideas for more.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	5. Stunning Shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets a little more than he bargained for from his camera.

Chapter 5: Stunning Shots

It all started with a picture.

He’d just finished uploading his pictures for the school day onto his computer, and had started sorting through them. It’s mostly stuff from school. Pictures of the halls packed with students. A few shots of the clubs while they do their activities. He even got some pretty cool looking action shots from some of the sports teams. It’s why he probably didn’t notice the picture he had taken until it had popped up on his screen. When it did, though, it took his breath away.

It was a shot of MJ, sitting on one of the ledges the hold the window in the stairwell. He took a few quick shutter shots of her while she was sitting there. He’s gotten permission from everyone at decathlon to do so.

The problem is, one of the pictures is just perfect. Her back is leaned up against the ledge, sketchbooks on her knees, while she stares out the window. The way the light from the sun hits her just frames her face perfectly. The far-off and contemplative look she fits the scene amazingly.

Peter stares at the picture for long enough that the screen starts to darken from disuse. That snaps him out of his trance, and he realizes that his hands have started to sweat and his heartrate has picked up. He’s not dense enough to not know what this feeling is. And with one of his best friends, too. He flops back in his chair, rubbing the sweat off his hands onto his pants and sighing.

“Shit.”

***

The next day, he walks into school. He reaches his locker without incident, but as he closes it to leave to find Ned, he freezes.

He was honestly hoping that yesterday evening was just a one-time thing, but no. Standing there, talking with Betty Brant in the middle of the hallway, is her. He’s seen MJ so many times before, but something’s changed. Now, seeing that amused smirk from something Betty said is making it hard to breathe. He stands there, just watching it happen, before something hits his arm. He looks over to see Ned squinting at him.

“Dude,” his best friend frowns. “Don’t you have super hearing? I’ve been calling your name for the past minute.”

“S-Sorry,” Peter blushes, he takes one more glance over to see the conversation he was watching breaking up, before focusing back on Ned. “Just a bit distracted.”

The frown deepens, as Ned looks at Peter’s face, then he turns to where the teen was looking. It takes a few moments before the guy in the chair’s eyes widen in realization.

“No way!” He gasps. “Dude, when did that happen?”

“Last night,” Peter mumbles, face heating up a bit more.

He quickly tells Ned about it, and his best friend has the audacity to let out a small laugh.

“I mean,” he giggles a bit more. “Out of all of the things I thought would happen when you got into photography, this wasn’t at the top of the list.”

“Ned,” the photographer whines. “This is serious. It’s a disaster.”

It’s at that time that the bell rings. 

“Well,” Ned chuckles. “We can talk about it later. See yah.”

“Yeah,” Peter sighs. “See yah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone ever just looked at someone, someone you've seen countless times before, and suddenly see them in a different light? It just changes how you feel about them, and you can't change it back.
> 
> Yeah, that's happened to me on more than one occasion.
> 
> Anyways. Hope you enjoyed this short little chapter.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	6. Romance and Ribbing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discovery is made by some nosy heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter brought to you by Bluerose160.

Chapter 6: Romance and Ribbing

What Peter sees when he walks into the common room chills his blood. The Avengers have his camera.

Now, normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. It’s happened more than enough times for Peter to be completely done with worrying over it. Now, but this isn’t something he can just brush off.

Usually, it’s Clint, Bucky, or Sam that take his camera out of his bag when he leaves it in the kitchen. They generally just take a quick glance at the thing, maybe taking a few pictures of their own just for fun. After the initial mess up with the SD card, Peter’s been sure to screen his pictures before showing them to the club. They get the occasional fun little photo, mainly because Peter finally has someone to share them with other than May and Ned, but he tries to keep his pictures of the Compound to only things that might be seen in an internship; like the lab.

What sets his nerves on edge about this particular moment isn’t that they have the camera this time, it’s the fact that they’ve hooked it up to the TV and the rest of the people in the Compound are currently watching a slideshow of the photos. Most importantly, though, he recognizes the SD card. It’s the one he hasn’t filtered through and sorted yet. It’s just stuff from the past week, but as it flips to a particular picture, his heart lurches.

“Hey, kid,” Clint grins towards the teen in the doorway. “Who’s this?”

What they have on the screen is a picture of MJ. He took it after school, when they didn’t have decathlon. She’s in the art room, with an easel in front of her, paintbrush in hand. Her eyes are in a slight squint, and her mouth is slightly agape. She has that calm sort of concentration one does as they are trying to figure out their next move, or next stroke in this case. What Peter thought really made the picture were the slight smudges of yellow on her face. It’s cute. Now, however, there’s a collection of grinning superheroes looking back at him for his reaction to that particular picture.

“That’s Michelle,” he tells them, trying to ignore his face heating up. “She’s the captain of the decathlon team. I’ve got plenty of pictures of the team during practice and in their other clubs.”

“But you’ve got twenty-seven pictures of her specifically,” Nat points out, smirking. “And we aren’t even halfway through them yet.”

“You know kid,” Clint starts. “When I first met Laura-.”

“Nope,” Peter cuts him off. “Nope. No. Nah. No way. Not hearing this.”

With that, the young spider teen throws his hands up in the air, turning around and leaving.

***

“You know,” Sam stretches out on the couch next to Peter. “You really shouldn’t be taking pictures of people without them knowing.”

All of the other Avengers are gone, off doing their own things now that they’ve finished invading Peter’s privacy. He thought the common room would be safe to do homework in now. Apparently not.

“I have permission from them,” he tells the Falcon. “If I think it’ll make a good picture, they say I can take it. Just have to show them first before I show anyone else at school. Give them the decision on whether or not I delete them or if I can show anyone.”

“Cool,” Sam nods. “You should always make sure to respect consent. Don’t do anything that would make a g-.”

“Stop,” Peter looks up from his homework, raising his hand, facing heating up again. “Already got the Talk from May over a year ago, and again before homecoming. Don’t need to hear it from you.”

As he looks at the flying Avenger, Peter realizes something. He squints in suspicion.

“You’re just trying to embarrass me, aren’t you?”

“It’s not the main goal,” Sam Wilson stops trying to hold in his smile. “But it is a bonus. Remember, use protection.”

There’s a groan from Peter as Wilson stands up and walks away, chuckling.

***

“You know, Little Spider, I’m always here if you need girl advice.”

Peter gives her a slightly nervous smile. “Thanks Nat, but I think I’m good.”

***

“Nope. Don’t even start.”

Steve Rogers closes his mouth with an audible clop.

“Just,” Peter holds up his hands placatingly. “I’ve already seen your Sex Ed PSA more times than I’d ever like to. I don’t want a live performance, please.”

That has Captain America blushing as he makes his way smoothly, and quickly, out of the kitchen.

***

Peter tromps into the lab, and before Tony Stark can say anything, he decides to clear the air.

“Don’t you dare try to give me advice about MJ,” Peter points at his mentor, glaring slightly.

“Wasn’t even going to try,” said mentor chuckles. “I only got Pep through a mixture of luck and her tolerance and endurance. If you want advice, she’d be a better person to ask. I’m guessing you’ve gotten a lot from the rest of the team.”

“Most of them mean well,” Peter collapses on the couch that’s used for power naps. “Most of them. Sam and Clint are enjoying my suffering, Steve is old fashioned and repetitive. Nat’s fine, she just said she was there for me and then left me to myself. I don’t even want to know what it would be like if any of the other team members were here.”

“Well,” Tony smiles thoughtfully. “Barnes would probably be alright after he’s done poking fun at you. Wanda would probably be pretty good to ask if you need anything. Bruce, I think would be a good bet on the emotional front, too. He’s gotten good at controlling his own emotions. But,” the billionaire chuckles again. “I’d actually like to see what Thor’s reaction and tips would be.”

“Please,” Peter sighs. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

“Alright,” Tony spins around in his rolling chair. “Then let’s do something fun today. Something that’ll take your mind off of a lot of this. I’ve been meaning to ask, but that camera you have isn’t very up to date, is it?”

“You’re not buying me a new camera, Mr. Stark.”

“Nope. Not buying. I was thinking we could make one. Not necessarily my area of expertise, but I do know a bit about the subject from making cameras for my different drones and satellites. We can do some research today to try and find out what you want. Maybe customize the grip and frame for you. Should be fun.”

Peter’s face splits into a grin as he sits up on the couch. “That would be so cool. Can we?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t’ve suggested it if I we couldn’t. Now, come on over, and we can start on the designs.”

They go through the next few hours checking out different shells for the camera, thinking over different settings that it should have, and scanning Peter’s hands to customize the grip for him.

“You know,” Tony starts as the shift through the different lenses they’re planning on making for the camera. “If you do need anything, you know advice wise, I am here for you. Might not be able to give you much, but I can at least tell you what not to do.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“And if you need anything monetary wise, I’m definitely here. Doesn’t matter how much it costs. Just think of it as the payment for your internship.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the requests. Thank you for the comments. Thank you for reading.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	7. Assemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you get when you cross strong-willed teens, with freedom of the press, and a stereotype as old as high school itself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idea brought to you by Nicoleispurple. Thank you for your comments.

Chapter 7: Assemble

“C’mon,” Peter sighs. “Just give it back, please.”

“Why? I’m just looking. It’s not like I’m going to break it.”

It’s really kind of annoying, how stereotypical this is. Three jocks, standing a head above the shorter Peter Parker. They have his camera, and they obviously don’t have much of a motivation to give it back.

Most people at the school are pretty cool. Some of them can be jerks, like Flash for example, but it hardly ever goes very far past a few verbal insults or sarcastic remarks. There are, however, still the occasional cocky pieces of shit who think that anything that doesn’t fit within their fragile masculinity is automatically something to be tormented about. At least, that’s what one of Peter’s more politically and socially apt friends says.

Still, the three guys in front of him apparently bug the boys in the various clubs that would’ve been seen as “wimpy” back when they were in elementary school. Things like drama, glee, chess, cooking, anime, and of course, photography.

Peter’s getting a bit frustrated. He’s going to be late for his meeting with the journalism club. Just before he’s about to try and snatch the camera back, there’s a voice at the end of the hall.

“What’s going on here?”

He turns to see a sight that makes him sigh in relief. It’s Emelia, the de facto leader of the photography club. She seems to answer her own question as she takes in the situation in front of her.

“Could you please give Peter back his camera?” She sighs as she stares down the three athletes, completely unimpressed. “We kind of need him for a meeting.”

“And what if we don’t want to?” The guy holding the camera smiles.

“Well, then,” another voice sounds from down the hallway. “That would be a problem.”

Peter’s worked with the Avengers, but what he sees walking around that corner is something equally badass. It’s MJ and Cindy from decathlon, as well as Betty Brant from the journalism club. Following behind them is Michael, with his camera already snapping pictures of the entire event.

“We can’t really coordinate our sports montage without our best action photographer,” Betty gives the trio of bullies a sweet smile. “And I’m sure you’d rather have something like that on the school’s news webpage instead of these wonderful photos of you picking on another student, wouldn’t you?”

“It wouldn’t be very good for your coach to see your faces plastered on the front page,” MJ raises an eyebrow.

The leader of the trio of jocks is glaring at the girls and the camera in Michael’s hand. One of his cronies starts frantically hitting the guy on his arm.

“Dude, that’s Betty Brant and Emelia Laurens,” he says, panic in his voice. “They’re the ones that got half the varsity baseball team banned for the season after that party a few months ago.”

“And that’s Cindy Moon,” the other one whispers. “She broke Cliff’s thumb after he made a pass at her.”

“Should’ve kept his hands to himself,” Cindy shrugs.

Peter thinks that it’s the threat of physical violence that really turns things around. The guy just tosses the camera back to Peter with a glare. The enhanced vigilante catches it easily, but still shoots a glare of his own back at the jock. Even if he and Mr. Stark made the thing to survive a drop from a building, they didn’t know that.

Either way, the three harassers walk away, looking back only once to see Cindy give them a toothy smile and waggle her fingers at them.

“Thanks,” Peter sighs as he approaches the group.

“You can thank us,” Betty smiles at him. “By showing us the shots you got of the basketball team.”

“I think we should also make sure that a few specific members of the football team aren’t in focus during the montage,” Emelia suggests.

“And make sure that the girl’s hockey team looks badass,” Cindy adds. She then looks over at the other male photographer in the group. She raises an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Michael, who has been staring, starry eyed, at the girl for the past minute, snaps out of it and clears his throat.

“Are you single?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a STEM school. They probably have enough trouble trying to get people to attend sporting events without giving them a valid reason to hate the players. The fact that sports probably isn't a focus of the school also plays into a lack of favoritism towards jocks that you might see in plenty of other stereotypes.
> 
> So, the half the baseball team thing really did happen at my high school. Not because of any journalism club or students. It was just bad luck that a random drug test happened the week after a big party. Still, it was kind of funny to hear about in the hallways.
> 
> Cindy Moon will be a badass in some way, shape, or form in most of my fics. What can I say? I like her character.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


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